Heartmaker
by Besket
Summary: Demyx is confused. So, Axel and Roxas have always hung out, right? Then why is Axel suddenly following Demyx around everywhere? And why is Roxas suddenly mad at him all the time? What's going on? [Onesided 8x9, 8x13]
1. Prologue::

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Heartmaker**

by Besket

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**Author's Notes: **The basic outline of this story came from an IMRP (Instant Message Role Play) that I had with one of my greatest friends, Dekiru. But the details of this story came to me in the middle of the night (midnight, to be exact) and I couldn't sleep until I typed them down. 

To Dekiru: If you're even reading this, I'm very sorry, but your character. . . couldn't be in it. . . _(apologizes)_ Because, well. . . Aeris never went anywhere near the World that Never was. . . But, I haven't deleted you completely, as you will be able to tell.

**Warning: **Contents may contain spoilers. Also contains very obvious mentions of male/male relationships, commonly known online as _slash, shounen-ai, _and in more. . . intense. . . situations, _yaoi_. I must also mention that I am a homophobic-phobic, so if this sort of relationship bothers you, then (ew) please go away right now. Thank you.

**Disclaimer:** Kingdom Hearts II and all of its characters belong to either Square Enix or to Disney, but in this case, mostly Square. I am not making money off this work, I am merely borrowing the fandom for a short while. The characters will not be changed (dramatically) in any way, shape, or form. And I don't remember how the rest of the official stuff goes, just don't sue me and we'll all be one happy family.

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**Prologue**

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The well-known neon tower hung over the wrecks and ruins of what looked like a destroyed city, which had never actually been intact. The screen at the top of the skyscraper flickered, the image never exactly becoming clear. Different neon signs, advertising shops that had never been built, flickered as the rain poured down on them, struggling to keep alight in a city that was seeped in darkness. 

From the ground, dark bodies rose, and then melted away again as a dark-blue weapon cut through them like knife on butter. More of them arose, this time from a different direction, but dissolved in the light of a bright weapon, that shone the darkness away.

Mindlessly surfacing for flesh to claw, hearts to steal, more of them came, the Heartless. And, again and again, they were slashed to bits. Perhaps some spark jolted through the mindless beings, as they worked to encircle this danger, to attack it from all sides- only to be burned completely away, before they could even get close, in a ring of fire.

"Dammit, Axel!"

The dark blade and the bright blade were lowered, as the person holding them yelled behind his shoulder, and through his hood. The other, standing with his back to the first, flinched.

"Sorry, Roxas, I wasn't implying that you couldn't handle it, I- "

"I told you, I'm the one training right now, okay? I only let you come because you really wanted to. If I want your help, I'll ask for it!" The hooded person's grip on his weapons tightened in frustration.

"I was only trying to. . ." the other began, but realized that whatever he said wouldn't change Roxas's mind. He hung his head. "I understand."

"Good." Roxas glared at the ground, from which more Heartless came. He readied his weapons, his Keyblades, (the source of many questions and mysteries that arose as to whom he had once been) for more fighting. But this time, there were. . .

Far, far too many.

"Leave us alone!" he yelled at the Heartless that were rematerializing, but they obviously didn't listen and continued to come.

He struggled against them at first, but it quickly became more tiring than he had really wanted them to be. "There's too many of them!" He yelled over his shoulder.

There was no response.

He turned around. Where had his companion gone? "Axel! What the hell!" The remnants of a black portal were closing, and a note fluttered out. Even in the almost non-existent light, Roxas was still able to read the fiery words:

_I got called again for my job at Marluxia's place._

_I'm really, really sorry, but I don't think you really need me anyway._

_I'll be back as soon as I can._

_--Axel_

Blue eyes widened in shock and anger, (false. . . false. . . false. . .!) and hands crumpled around the note as darkness swallowed him.

* * *

Axel left as soon as he could, almost angry (false. . . false. . . false. . .!) that he hadn't even been needed. That Marluxia! He liked to abuse his power, didn't he? 

When he came back to the scene he had left not even ten minutes ago, an unexpected sight met his eyes.

Roxas lay, facedown, at the mouth of the skyscraper, his note in one hand, and his other grasping an invisible object, as if whatever he had been holding had recently dissolved. (Where?)

Alarmed, (false. . . false. . . false. . .!) Axel raced to the limp form. "Roxas? What happened!"

Roxas's eyes opened. "Where. . . did you think. . . you were going?"

Green eyes lowered in shame. "I was called away. . . trying to save this (the sky, the other, the same) boy from Marluxia's clutches, but I have to think of a way to do it without making Marluxia suspect me!" His mouth simply poured, having no more room in his mind other than, _is Roxas okay!_

"Feeling a little. . . regret?" Roxas sneered from the ground.

That remark stung, and Axel lowered his head in shame. "If I could, I would. . ."

Slowly getting up, Roxas brushed himself off and shot one of his infamous glares at Axel. "There were more Heartless than I could handle. When I really DID need you, you were GONE." When the two words were stressed so painfully as Roxas had done, Axel flinched. "The only reason why I'm talking to you right now is because the mindless creatures realized that there was no heart for them to steal!"

Axel sighed. Well, that was wonderful. Now Roxas would be cold to him for the next four hours or so. "Come on, Roxy, I had no choice. I promise I'll never do that again."

Roxas stopped. "Promise?" He raised an eyebrow.

A nod. "Of course. If you're ever hopelessly outnumbered again, I'll save you."

A pause of consideration. "Fine." And the dual-wielder walked away, back to the castle.

As Axel sat at the mouth of the skyscraper, rain dripping all over his flaming red hair, he glanced longingly at the retreating back of his (true or not?) best friend.

How cold he was treated.

How devoid of emotion his friend was.

He raised a gloved hand to the center of his chest, where his heart would have been. A warmth, which had recently developed, enveloped his hand. The warmth that roared like a flame whenever the sweet blonde was near. . .

But how would Axel ever get what he wanted?

_Well, there's the classic. Cook for him._

No, food wouldn't work, as Axel already cooked breakfast for Roxas every single morning. It had no effect on the blonde at all.

_Then shield him from the rain._

It is true that Roxas's favorite training ground constantly rained, but that was what the hoods in their uniform were for. That wouldn't work, either.

_Protect him._

But, as obvious from the display earlier, Roxas did not appreciate his protection very much, and only accepted it when it was absolutely needed. Which, with Roxas's great skill, was not very common.

_Then. . . there is only one way._

Axel closed his eyes, thinking it over. What was the one way that would ensure him Roxas's kindness and affection?

_The things you do for him. . ._

_**Do them for someone else.**_

Axel's eyes shot open.

**

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Tailnotes:** The prologue is finished. Whoooooo. From now on, the story will be told in Demyx's point of view. . . I think a lot of you can pretty much understand what will happen here. If not, well. . . I guess you'll see, huh?

Also, if you have questions, feel free to ask them. I like knowing what's confusing and what's not expressed well or whatever. And if there's something that's incorrect or doesn't make sense, please feel free to tell me, I don't mind getting corrected. Thank you. :D


	2. 1:: Wake up!

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Heartmaker**

by Besket

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Author's Notes: **Nothing to say. _(grins)_ Just look back at the prologue.**  
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**Warning: **Other than what I already said in the prologue, (and I do hate repeating myself,) there might be slight confusion. . . but not really. I think you're all smart enough to figure out the entire story very easily, I mean. . . it's not like I'm hiding anything. The plot is _so_ predictable.

**Disclaimer:** I'm a lazy-ass, so I'll shorten this one. I don't own anything. I don't even own the whole storyline of this story, as mentioned last chapter. So don't sue me, because I'm not stealing.

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**Chapter One – Wake Up!**

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Mmmm. 

Augh, who's poking me?

Mn. . .

. . . Aw, just a little longer, I went to bed kinda late last night. . .

Ehh. . . wait. . . what's that smell?

That. . . smells really good. . .

Whoa, now I'm hungry. Give me food!

I cracked my eyes open, slowly. I was met with a sea of green, only two inches away.

"AAAAAHHHHH!"

I attempted to roll out of bed, but someone stopped me. I looked up at the person's face again, and this time it was far enough away for me to recognize it. _Plus I was also more awake._

"Axel? What are you doing here?" I asked, confused. He never visited me this early in the morning. He was usually. . . well. . . why couldn't I remember?

"Rise and shine, Demmy!" He laughed, then lifted his hand, which was stopping me from falling off the bed. I yelped as I hit the floor, the sound causing the bowls of water in my room to turn into little hands. They crawled around the room and tried to help me back up, but couldn't, because they were made out of water and were armless hands. Well, that's okay, I can get up myself.

As I was starting to pick myself up, Axel grabbed my hands and yanked me to my feet. "So, Demmy, how about some breakfast? I made you an omelet!" He held up a frying pan, from which the delicious smell from earlier was coming.

Wow, that's so good. . . I could hardly think from the smell, but some part of my brain remained enough for me to remember something. "Wait, around this time of the morning, aren't you. . . usually cooking breakfast for Roxas?" I asked. Yeah, now I remembered! That's what he's usually doing, fattening up the rookie, and getting punched in the face! What _is_ he doing here?

"Yeah, well. . . I guess I am." Axel scratched his head sheepishly. (false. . . false. . . false. . .!) "But, you know. . . last night he got hurt, and he was really mad at me, so. . . I wasn't sure if he wanted to see me yet."

Another part of me was wondering, _then why did you come to me?_ But it was squashed by the delicious smell of the omelet. I mean, Axel wasn't considered one of the better cooks of the Organization for nothing! So I reached my hand out toward the frying pan, a pleading look on my face, and he laughed, transferred the omelet to a plate, and handed me a fork. "Here, enjoy."

I took the plate eagerly, my taste buds already tingling in anticipation, when the fiery bastard swooped forward and planted a kiss on my cheek.

I almost dropped the plate.

Whoa.

Is it just me, or is this room really, really hot? Man, I feel like I'm about to sweat.

I glanced at him, confused. He just laughed again. "Ah, I never get to do that with Roxy. I wanted to see what it was like." Then he nudged me. "Come on, eat, eat, eat!"

I hesitated. Wow. I mean, that was. . . it was like I almost felt something. Hmm. Weird. Well, not much use thinking about it now, right? I lifted my fork and stabbed the omelet.

Heh. That's so good. Mmmm.

As I ate, Axel had materialized another egg from somewhere and was cracking it into the frying pan. I watched as he cooked it without a stove, just with his hands. It was pretty neat, and I kind of wish I had a cool talent like his. Aw, that's just not fair!

I watched as he materialized another fork from somewhere and ate straight from the pan. Heh, knowing him, he was obviously too lazy to get out another plate. As I was finishing my delicious breakfast, he looked over at me, smiling.

"Hey, Demmy," he started, to get my attention. I looked up. "I know you like to visit that underwater world a lot, don't you?"

I blinked. Underwater world? Wha. . . oh! Oh! "You mean Atlantica?" I asked. I couldn't help but grin. I loved that place! Ariel and Flounder were always happy to see me, and Sebastian only used his stern voice with me when I was doing something stupid, like. . . um. . . well, there was that shark incident. . . but, it was okay in the end, because I managed to trap the shark in some hoop thing. It was awesome! I got a stern scolding for it, though. . .

"Yeah, yeah, Atlantica," Axel said, bringing me out of my thoughts. "You like to hang out with the fish and the mer-people there, don't you?"

I nodded. Where was this going?

"I've heard stories about how great their voices are," he continued, "but I've never actually gotten to hear them. And, frankly, I don't really think some half-fish brat could really sing all that great."

Huh? Hey! "Hey, Princess Ariel is not a half-fish brat!" I pouted. "She's really nice, and friendly, and pretty, and- and- and she's got the best voice in Atlantica!" Which was true, by the way!

Axel leaned his entire frontal body back, threw back his head, and laughed. "Alright, alright, take a chill pill," he said, waving his hands at me, "I'm not trying to insult your friend, okay? Besides," at this he shot me a funny look. I drew back slightly. "Besides, you're not even supposed to be able to get all huffy like that."

I wasn't?

Oh, yeah. . . being "huffy" would mean having emotions, huh?

Well. . . well. . .

"Hey, just because we don't have hearts, doesn't mean we can't feel stuff!" I crossed my arms and pouted. "So I can huff as much as I want!"

His laughter died down, and slowly tamed down into a small smile. "Could you say that part again?" he asked, his voice almost a whisper.

"What? 'I can huff as much as I want'?"

"No, before that," he said, waving his hand in a dismissive manner. Wow, he was being. . . strangely patient. Maybe what I said really got to him.

"'Just because we don't have hearts, doesn't mean we can't feel stuff.'" At least, that's what I think I said.

He had on the thinking pose. "Would explain a lot," he muttered to himself.

Hmm, well. It looks like it really did get to him. Wonder why?

"I- I mean," I continued, and he looked up. Eh, what was I going to say again? "I mean, you know, we can feel, right? It's part of what comes from being able to think. It's what sets us apart from Heartless." His face was blank. Gah, guess I wasn't getting my point across. . . "Well, what I'm trying to say is. . . you can _feel_ like you have a heart, right? So, so. . ." Dang, this was really getting awkward. "So, as long as we care, it'll be almost the same, right?"

This was getting a bit creepy. Axel was just standing there, not moving. . . not saying anything. . . I've never seen him so still before. When he finally did look up, I was relieved (false. . . false. . . false. . .!) to see his smirk back. "I'll keep that in mind," he assured me.

Why does that comment make my head spin?

"In the meantime," he said, "about Atlantica. . . could you take me there?"

Huh? Atlantica?

Hey, wait, if he goes, then- !

"You'll drown!" I looked at him as if he were crazy. Actually, that might not be too far from the truth. "Why do you want to go there, anyway?"

"Well, no reason, really," he said, casually. He sent me a strange look. "Just wanted to hear some. . . _singing."_

I gulped. There was something about the way he said the word, "singing". . . what's going on? Eh? Eh?

"And I was thinking, well. . . you must have some way to breathe down there, right?" He leaned against the wall lazily and crossed his arms. "Show me. What do you do?"

Aw, no. No, please, don't make me do this. It's embarrassing!

Don't look at me like that, either! Don't! Stop! I- arrrgghh!

"Okay, okay, fine. . ." face feeling slightly warm, I reached my hand toward the zipper of my raincoat. Slowly, hesitatingly, I pulled it down.

Ah! This feels so weird! I usually get to do this by myself, before I open a portal to Atlantica. . . but with someone else it's _way_ more awkward! Yikes!

As soon as the zipper was undone, I took the raincoat off.

I feel so exposed, wearing just my pants. . . ack, ack, ack! He's looking at me, too! Eek!

"Um, and then you make a tail. . ." I ran my hand down the area between my legs, fusing them – along with my pants and boots – into a black tail. Axel's eyes followed me the entire time, and I fidgeted a little.

He nodded. "I see how you do it, but. . . well. . ." He stared at his hands, still smiling. Why is that smile making me squirm? "I don't think I have the right kind of magic to do that. . ." He put on an expression that I suppose was supposed to look apologetic, but just made him look even more. . . well. . . whatever he was.

"Oh." My tail flipped around absently as I thought about our situation. "Um, then I'll. . . do it for you." That solves it! Demyx, you are such a genius!

"I'm all yours." He winked at me, then started taking off his raincoat, too.

My eyes followed his zipper as it went down, exposing more of his skin as he went.

Why couldn't I tear my eyes away? Gak! He was going to see me staring! He's going to think I'm some kind of weirdo! Ah! Look away, look away, look away, you idiot!

I still hadn't gotten myself to look away by the time he had thrown the black material off, revealing his freakishly thin – but still somehow _very_ good-looking – frame. He smiled down at me.

Wait, why's he smiling _down?_

Ack!

I completely forgot! I'm still a mermaid! Erm- merboy! Whatever the term is! I can't stand up!

How am I going to help him like this?

He must have seen me panicking, because he smiled. "Can't reach, can you?" He lay down on the floor and put his legs together. "This makes things easier, doesn't it?"

After I'd gotten over the shock of seeing Axel with his legs together – the guy always stands with them like two feet apart! – I reached a hand forward.

It stopped about half a foot away.

Um. . .

. . . Great. Genius, Demyx. You're so smart you should drown.

I was starting to feel warm again. Shoot! No! Forget censoring! Shit! _Shit!_

I had to put my hand _there!_

Axel lifted his head up a bit. "Something wrong?"

Yes! Yes, something was _very _wrong! Ah! This. . . this is going to feel so weird. . .

I shook my head slowly. "Nothing's wrong. . ." He seemed satisfied by that, and put his head back down.

Well, at least he wasn't going to _see_ me do it. . .

I closed my eyes. Just get it over with, Demyx! You can do it!

I slowly put my hand down.

Ah! Ah! Yikes!

As quickly as I could, I moved my hand down, and watched as Axel's legs became a black tail like mine.

He was chuckling. "Heh, that tickled," he commented. So casually.

I coughed slightly, feeling my throat tickle a bit. "Uhm, now that we can breathe and move freely underwater now. . ." I opened up a portal and was about to climb in, before realizing that the portal might close in on him. I mean, he was the one that wanted to go, so it would be pretty stupid to leave him behind. . .

So I let him go in first. He seemed slightly awkward moving with his arms at first, but he got used to it pretty fast. I jumped in after him.

To Atlantica! Wake up, Princess Ariel! Black-tail Demyx is coming for a visit!

* * *

As soon as the portal closed, another Organization XIII member stepped out from behind the corner they had been spying from. The person lifted a hand and whipped off his hood, staring at the disappearing portal. 

"What?" Roxas asked, disbelieving. He frowned. "Axel's. . . going somewhere. Without me." The blonde stared at the discarded raincoats that were still on the floor, and his eyes narrowed. "You didn't even make breakfast for me this morning."

He put his hand on his stomach. It grumbled in hunger.

**

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Tailnotes:** Just so you know, in this story, mer-people can breathe air as well as water. It seemed like they could do that, since Sora and Ariel could bring their heads above water in Atlantica without having to go down for water, so. . . yeah. _(sweatdrops)_ Well, even if you disagree, just go with it. . . _(sweatdrops again)_

Listening to Roxas's theme while reading the last scene makes it so much sadder. _(sniffs)_ Poor Roxas. . .


	3. 2:: Swim This Way

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Heartmaker**

by Besket

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Author's Notes:** Wow, guys. 200+ hits and 3 reviews? _(cracks up) _You're really funny. . . but I love you all anyway. Thanks to **Rios Masquerade** for being the first one to review, you made my day with that. . . _(smiles happily)_ And thanks to **Ruaki **and **LKani-X **for reviewing! Made me very happy! Hee, I guess there's no questions or corrections, then? Okay! So we're good!

**Warning:** May contain an idiotic author. _(points to self and grins retardedly)_

**Disclaimer:** I don't own the characters or plot of Kingdom Hearts II, nor do I own the song _Swim This Way._ I own. . . um. . . a level 69 Japanese Sora who's currently trying to become higher level than a level 70 Japanese Riku. And not succeeding, to his extreme disappointment. He's also slightly sulky because Jap Riku keeps mispronouncing his name and calling him "Sorea". What a cute pet name.

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**Chapter Two: Swim This Way**

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I yelped as the portal spat me out and water hit my face. Looking around, I could see. . . um. . . water. And shells. And watery plants. And some fish I didn't know. 

Where did Axel go?

"SURPRISE, Demmy!" I twitched, screamed, and swam about three feet away before turning back to shoot a soft glare at Axel, who had grabbed my shoulders out of nowhere. That's so scary! Hmph! He knows how easily spooked I am, why'd he do that?

. . . Okay, sorry, stupid question. I get it.

He stood, blinking at me, a surprised expression on his face. "Wow, Demyx. You scream like a girl." Shocked enough to use my real name, eh, Sparky? Well, for your information, I- I did that on purpose! Just to surprise you! So there!

"Demyx? Is that you?"

I turned around, and put on my nice-guy smile. "Good morning, Princess Ariel!" I waved at the girl as she swam up to us, trying to look over my shoulder. Why was she looking there?

"Who's your friend?" She asked, giggling as she swam in circles around the two of us. Axel followed her with his eyes, looking slightly cautious, though I don't see why; after all, Ariel's one of the gentlest people I know! The fact that she can rip apart Heartless with her bare hands just shows how gentle all the people I know are.

I cleared my throat. "This is my friend, Axel." I gestured to Axel, and he waved a hand awkwardly.

Ariel studied him, frowning slightly. "Axel, huh? Hmmm. . . you really need to eat more, Axel."

Axel's frown deepened, but I couldn't stifle a giggle. To have someone like Ariel tell you off. . . wow. That's pretty funny. Axel pouted at me, then mouthed, _who is she?_ He jabbed a thumb at Ariel for emphasis, although it was really unnecessary, her being the only 'she' here.

"Axel, this is Princess Ariel. She's the. . . ahem. . . _mermaid_ that I told you about." And that you insulted earlier. But Ariel doesn't have to know that. I put the emphasis on _mermaid_ because, well, he has to learn that calling people "half-fish brat" wasn't exactly the most appropriate thing he could do.

He seemed to have ignored me, though, because he was back to his usual cheery self now that he knew the stranger's name. He held out his hand for Ariel to shake. "Hey. Nice to meet you."

Ariel giggled her beautifully bubbly giggle again, and accepted Axel's hand. "The pleasure's mine," she said, before turning to me. "Demyx, did you come here with another song for us to sing?"

Oh, great. I was sort of hoping she wouldn't bring that up in front of Axel. I looked away as Axel looked over at me, no doubt with some teasing comment to make at the thought of me _singing_. . .

W- well, why doesn't _he_ give Ariel a song, then! I'm sure he knows _plenty_ of great songs that she'd just _love _to try out.

I tried to picture Ariel singing a song that Axel wrote. It'd probably be called something confusing to her, like _Let Our Non-Existent Love Burn._ Ugh. I remember the time the Superior wanted to sing, and brought the entire Organization XIII to a Karaoke. . . the songs Axel picked were all pretty weird.

Then again, Saïx and Xaldin singing. . . bad. At least Axel can _somewhat _sing. Ugh. Saïx was right when he said he couldn't sing if his chances of getting a heart depended on it. Then again, it's not like he really cares much about hearts, does he?

I'm getting off topic! Argh!

Great, what's going on?

Axel's. . . no way.

No _way._

He _can't_ be handing music sheets to Ariel.

. . . Aw, Pooh Bear. He is.

"I found this under Demmy's pillow last week," he was saying. His expression was mischievous.

Ariel giggled. "Under his pillow? Really?" And she shot a glance at me before bursting into giggles again.

Huh?

Ack! No! No no no no no no! No! I was going to throw that away!

But it was too late for me to take it back now. I put my face in my hands as Ariel read out the title.

"_Swim This Way,"_ she was saying. She hummed the tune to herself, and I bet the two of them were snickering. I started groaning. That song was so bad, even _I _had laughed at the lyrics as soon as I finished writing them down.

"Is that how it goes?" I heard Axel say, as he started adding the lyrics along to the melody. "_Swim this way, we'll dance and we'll play. . ."_ Another snicker.

Ariel joined in merrily. _"It's very easy, come on in! Just take a chance and shake a fin!"_

"Please. Stop. Singing. Out. Loud." I peeked from between my fingers to find an available shell to hide in. No such luck. I groaned and started sinking as the two of them continued to sing my song, Axel inserting a laugh and wise comment every now and then.

Why is this happening to me? _Why?_

* * *

Roxas stood in the same room, still staring at the discarded raincoats on the floor. As much as he hated to admit it, he was. . . sulking. 

His fist clenched around the thinner, charcoal-scented uniform, and it took all his willpower not to bury his face into the material and just drown in the scent of fire. His hands started to shake, and when he finally noticed this, he threw the uniform down as if it were something putrid and disgusting.

"What am I doing," he grumbled to himself, not so much as a question as a short self-scolding. He looked around, his eyes trailing over the bowls of water in the room and at the room exit to make sure no one was watching him. "I could just follow them," he told himself, once he was certain there wasn't anyone around to hear him. "They went to a world called Atlantica, didn't they?"

Somewhere, in the back of his mind, the name sounded familiar, but he ignored the feeling as he mindlessly mimicked Axel and Demyx by taking off his uniform, and concentrated on trying to open a dark portal. He hadn't quite gotten the hang of it yet, but the portal opened without much trouble, as if it were telling him to follow his absent friend.

Though he had no idea where he was going to end up, he walked through the portal without looking back.

* * *

No waaaaaaaaaaaay. 

Okay, so they finished singing the song, thoroughly humiliating me in the process. Wonderful. But no, that wasn't enough for them, oh no. They decided it would be fun to drag Sebastian along.

"'Dis is great!" he was saying. Ariel seemed to agree, and Axel was too busy laughing to answer. "I been trying to write somethin' like 'dis for a while, but I just can't get the right feeling!"

I laughed uneasily. "Well, if you like it that much, then just take it. It's yours." I'm serious. Get that thing out of my face right now. I never want to see it again. Heck, you can even say _you_ wrote it, if you want; your funeral.

"Really, mon?" Sebastian, for some reason, seemed delighted to have my failed project.

I nodded. "Well, yeah," I scratched the back of my head. Man, how embarrassing. "If you couldn't tell, I did originally write it for one of your concerts." It was just too terribly embarrassing to be shown to anyone, let alone everyone, that's all.

But Sebastian was wearing his I-can't-thank-you-enough expression. O. . . kay, that little crab has _strange_ taste in music.

Just then, a whole bunch of bubbles suddenly gathered at one place. They all popped at the same time, and Roxas tumbled out.

Huh, that's strange, why did all the bubbles suddenly do something like that, and why did-

Wait, WHOA horsie, slow down!

WHY is the newest member of the Organization suddenly shooting out of exploding giant bubbles?

Ariel took this rather calmly, as if she'd seen this happen many times before. As if. "Who are you?" she gently asked a wildly confused Roxas.

He stopped staring at his tail for a minute to look at her. "Ariel?" he blurted. He seemed surprised by his own voice.

She nodded. "Yes, that's my name," she said truthfully, "how did you know?"

Roxas paused. "I didn't," he told her, still looking confused, though his eyebrows were starting to draw together. He just said her name out loud! And nobody even told him her name before! Weird.

Ariel swam circles around him, something she seemed to like to do. "My, you do look familiar."

Axel swam up to him as well, and he seemed amused as he reached out to grab one of Roxas's fins. "Hey, what's this thing that's sticking out of your- "

Roxas whipped around and slapped his hand away before he could finish the sentence. "It's called a _dorsal fin," _he grumbled.

"Yeah, but why is it sticking out of your- ?"

"_Because it is,"_ Roxas ground out, and that seemed to settle it. Axel's mouth snapped closed.

Well, there's something that I've been wondering for a while. "Hey, Roxas, did you do that yourself?"

He whipped around at the sound of my voice. Am I crazy, or is his glare even worse than usual? "This _tail?_ No, I did _not_." Then his expression, if possible, got even more sour. "I don't think I have the right kind of _magic_ to do that," he practically spat at me.

Dang, what's this guy's problem? It was almost like he was trying to tell me something.

Oh, well, I'll worry about whatever it was later. "If you didn't do it, then how did you get a tail?"

He stopped giving me the stink-eye for about three seconds to ponder this. "How would I know? I just entered this world and I had it," he snarled.

"Oh, yes! Now I remember!" Ariel suddenly exclaimed. She seemed happy to have remembered whatever it was. "I know someone who has a tail just like yours!" She peered at the tail, and then frowned. "Except it was a little more blue, I think."

We all looked down at Roxas's midnight-blue tail. Usually our tails turned black, because of our uniforms, and most mer-people had fish's tails, not the dolphin-like tail that Roxas had. Weird.

He was starting to look uncomfortable under all our stares, and Ariel seemed to notice that and decided to save him. "Oh, well, never mind that. . . Roxas, was it?" she smiled at him and waved the abomination in his face. "Come practice Demyx's new song with us!"

I shook my head. "No, it's not mine! I- it's Sebastian's!" The last thing I needed was for _another_ person to laugh at me! Although Roxas seems to be incapable of smiling, let alone laughing. . .

And, apparently, he's also incapable of reading music, judging by the bewildered look he was giving the sheet. Yes! Saved from more utter humiliation!

Axel swam up to me and put his hands on my shoulders. I couldn't tell what he was doing, but I could just imagine the grin he must have had on his face. . . "Aw, don't be so _shy, _Demmy," he cooed. He started moving his hands until they settled on the opposite sides of my body, ending in more of a light hug. "After all, it's such a _wonderful_ song. . ." he whispered, loud enough for everyone else to hear him – why does he want everyone to hear! – but quiet enough for it not to hurt my ears, and instead send shivers crawling down my bare body. . .

**Thump.**

I winced in pain. What was that? Hmm. Maybe I'll have Vexen take a look at me later. Maybe my lungs were getting infected or something. . . probably from the sudden overdose of Axel's charcoal smell. Maybe it gives people lung cancer.

Come to think of it, when Roxas and Axel became best buds, they had something like this, too. If I remember correctly, Roxas had said he had a lung infection, and Axel had told everyone who would listen that he had discovered a fast and easy way to gain a heart.

As if.

Anyway, maybe by now Vexen has some sort of cure or something, because whatever they had before, none of us have heard from it for several weeks, so he must of gotten rid of it somehow, right? I'll ask him about it later.

In the meantime. . .

Ack! In the meantime!

Roxas was glaring at me again, with that creepy scarier-than-normal glare that he was using earlier. Except, this time, it seems to have gotten worse.

No! Don't eat me! I taste yucky! . . . At least, I'm pretty sure I taste yucky, I haven't really tried myself before. . .

"I don't sing or dance," Roxas growled, startling me out of another mental ramble. Huh? Oh, right, Ariel was inviting him to rehearse my song. Well, it's a good thing he doesn't, then, isn't it? "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to see King Triton about. . . the Screwdivers. Yeah. The Screwdivers." And with that, he turned and swam away.

Okay, what had that been about?

"How does he know Daddy?" Ariel asked Sebastian. The little crab shrugged his claws. Good question. Even I've never gotten to talk to the King of Atlantica. I've been to his palace, sure, but I was never allowed to actually meet the guy.

Axel moved from his awkward position around me. Phew, finally. "What are Screwdivers?" he asked Ariel, one eyebrow arched up.

"They're a type of Heartless," he turned to me as I answered his question, "but there's no way Roxas has ever heard of them. They only exist in this world." I shook my head. "That guy's never going to make it to King Triton's palace; this world is like a maze. Only people who've been here loads of times can find their way there from all the way over here."

"Really?" Suddenly, Axel's entire nature changed. His smile turned upside-down, and his eyebrows lowered over his eyes, which became slits. "I can't just let him wander off like that."

This said, he turned tail and started swimming slowly in the direction Roxas had gone.

Ah, he's not even swimming properly! The idiot's going to get himself lost, too!

I swam in front of him and barred the way. He stopped, but looked impatient with me. "Hey, why don't I help you look for him? First of all, you can't even swim yet." He froze. Guess I got a point in, eh? "Second of all, I just told you that this place is a maze. You'll really get lost, and then you'll be more trouble then help."

He was thinking about it, he was thinking about it! Yes! The smile's back! And he's directing it right at me. Eh, that's nice to know. "Fine, Demmy. Point the way."

Aw, come on, Axel. Now you've gone and made my face all hot and my body all fluttery.

* * *

"_Ahead lies something you need._

_But to claim it, you must lose something dear."_

* * *

A brunette boy with ridiculously spiky hair approached a castle in the middle of nowhere. The construction defied all laws of gravity, and the boy found himself wondering how he had stumbled across such a bizarre place. Perhaps this was a new world? But they had walked to it. . . 

Followed by his two friends, he stepped into the castle and looked around. The inside was completely white, with bits of light blue everywhere. Nothing like what was to be expected from the brown-and-green colored exterior.

The shorter and more bad-tempered friend was the one to speak first. "Looks like nobody's home."

The other, who was taller and more calm and relaxed by nature, turned around. "You sure we should just barge in like this?"

"We have to if we're going to find the king. . ."

The three started off a conversation about the king, and the observer secretly made a note to reward the witch later. The first phase- successful.

As the other two moved to explore the castle, the tall one stepped back. "We should close the door behind us." He turned around, and his eyes widened.

"**Sora!"**

The boy turned around. The observer smirked to himself as he advanced toward the scared boy.

_**He looks just like you.  
**_

**

* * *

Tailnotes: **Whee for obviousness. :D

Okay, here comes the part where I really need to know if I screwed up. If you couldn't tell, I'm trying to align it with the canon story as best as I can. My biggest concern is whether there's something written in the Secret Ansem Report that tells a lot about Organization XIII, in which case I'd be completely screwed, seeing as my Secret Ansem Report is in Japanese.

If I take a long time to put up the next chapter, that'll be because I'm busy trying to beat my English game, get the complete Secret Ansem Report, and read it so that I can have an accurate story, okay?

Although I despise spoilers, lots of help will be highly appreciated.

Thank you for reading! _(smiles at all the readers that made it this far)_


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